54. News of the death of Vitellius had meanwhile spread
throughout the Gallic and German provinces and doubled the
scale of operations. Civilis dropped the mask and threw
himself headlong at Rome, while the Vitellian legions
actually chose to serve a foreign power in preference to
acknowledging Vespasian as emperor. The Gauls had screwed up
their courage, imagining that our armies were in the same
predicament everywhere. For the word had gone round that the
bases in Moesia and Pannonia were under siege by the
Sarmatians and Dacians, and a similar story, though false,
was told of Britain. But it was above all the burning of the
Capitol that had driven men to the belief that the empire's
days were numbered. They reflected that Rome had been
captured by the Gauls in the past, but as the house of
Jupiter remained inviolate, the empire had survived. (1) Now, however, fate had ordained this fire as a sign of the gods' anger and of the passing of world dominion to the nations north of the Alps. Such at any rate was the message
proclaimed by the idle superstition of Druidism. There was
also a rumour abroad about the Gallic leaders who had been
sent by Otho to fight Vitellius. Before they separated, it
was alleged, they had sworn an oath to play their part in
achieving independence if Rome crumbled under the impact of
continued civil wars and internal disasters.

55. Until Hordeonius Flaccus was murdered, there was no
overt action to give a hint of the conspiracy. But after his
death, messages were exchanged between Civilis and
Classicus, the commander of the Treviran cavalry regiment.
The latter's rank and wealth put him in a class above
others. He was descended from a line of kings, and his
forebears had been prominent in peace and war. Classicus
himself was in the habit of boasting that he counted among
his ancestors more enemies of Rome than allies. Also
involved were Julius Tutor and Julius Sabinus, the former a
Treviran, the latter a Lingon. Tutor had been placed by
Vitellius in command of the west bank of the Rhine. Sabinus
for his part, naturally a conceited man, was further
inflamed by bogus pretensions to high birth. He claimed that
the beauty of his great-grandmother had attracted Julius
Caesar during the Gallic War and she had become his
mistress.

These men had private and individual talks with other
potential rebels in order to explore their attitude. Then,
having revealed their plans to those whom they thought
suitable and thus implicated them, they met in Cologne, at a
private house. This was because officially the city would
have nothing to do with such moves, although a few Ubii and
Tungri were present at the conference. But the Treviri and
Lingones carried most weight and were intolerant of long
negotiations. They competed with each other in boastfulness.
The Roman nation, they declared, was in a fever of disunity,
the legions cut to pieces, Italy ravaged. The city of Rome
was on the verge of being captured and in every province the
garrison was preoccupied with fighting on its own doorstep.
If the Alps were strongly manned, the movement for
independence would gather way and the Gallic provinces
decide the limits of their dominion at will.

56. These views had only to be expressed to win instant approval. Dealing with the rump of the Vitellian garrison was a more difficult problem. A number of the council thought that they should be
put to death as trouble-makers and turncoats stained with the blood of their leaders. But a policy of mercy won the day, as it was calculated to obviate the desperate resistance which the refusal of quarter would inspire. It was better to entice them into an alliance. If the legionary commanders alone were killed, the rank-and-file in general would easily be induced by a guilty conscience and the hope of impunity to come over to the rebels.

Such, in outline, was their initial plan. A call to arms was
issued throughout the Gallic provinces, though the
conspirators themselves feigned obedience in order to give
Vocula less warning of his doom. Vocula did indeed get wind
of what was afoot through certain informants but with his
legions under strength and disloyal, he was in no position
to discipline the rebels by force. Caught between an
unreliable army and a secret foe, he felt that the best
course open to him was to pay back deception in its own
coin, and wield the very weapon that threatened him. So he
moved down-stream to Cologne. To this same city Claudius
Labeo (whose capture and removal to Frisian territory I have
described (2)) made his escape after bribing his gaolers. This man undertook, if given a bodyguard, to go to the Batavians and force the better part of the tribe to return to their
alliance with Rome. Receiving a small infantry and cavalry
force, he made no attempt to carry out his venture against
the Batavians, but induced a few Nervii and Baetasii to take
up arms and conducted less a regular campaign than a series
of stealthy raids against the Cannenefates and Marsaci.

57. Lured on by the treacherous Gauls, Vocula now marched
against the enemy. He was already nearing Vetera when
Classicus and Tutor went ahead, ostensibly to reconnoitre,
and came to a firm understanding with the German-leaders.
Then, for the first time, they broke away from the legions
and built their own walled camp, though Vocula protested
that Rome was not so racked with civil strife that even the
Treviri and Lingones could afford to despise her. She still
had at her disposal loyal provinces, victorious armies, her
imperial destiny and the vengeance of the gods. That was why
Sacrovir and the Aedui long ago, (3) and in recent times Vindex with the Gallic provinces, had both been beaten in a single battle.
Treaty-breakers could expect to face the same divine forces
and the same fate. Julius Caesar and Augustus had been
better judges of the Gallic temper, and it was thanks to
Galba and his tax concessions that they had adopted an
insolent air of hostility. At the moment the Gauls were
enemies because the yoke bore lightly on their shoulders;
when they had been despoiled and stripped, they would be
friends.

This was a spirited speech on Vocula's part. But when he saw
that Classicus and Tutor persisted in their treachery, he
turned round and retired to Novaesium. The Gauls encamped
two miles away on the flat ground. Centurions and soldiers
passed to and fro between the camps, selling their souls to
the enemy. The upshot was a deed of shame quite without
parallel: a Roman army was to swear allegiance to the
foreigner, sealing the monstrous bargain with a pledge to
murder or imprison its commanders. Though many of his staff
advised flight, Vocula held that courage was called for. He
paraded the troops, and spoke to them somewhat as follows:

58. 'I have never addressed you with such anxiety on your behalf or such unconcern for myself. I am content to be told
that there is a plan to kill me. I welcome death without
dishonour as the end of all my afflictions. It is for you
that I feel shame and pity, for you are facing no ordinary
array of battle — that is the privilege of a soldier and
what one expects of the enemy but war with Rome. This is
what Classicus hopes to wage by your agency when he dangles
before you a Gallic empire and asks you to swear allegiance
to it. Even if luck and courage have deserted us for the
moment, have things reached such a pitch that we have
forgotten the lessons of the past when Roman legions chose
to perish rather than abandon their post? Our very allies
have often endured the sack of their cities and allowed
themselves to be burnt to death with wives and children,
when their only recompense for doom was fidelity and fame.
At this very moment the legions at Vetera are facing hunger
and siege, and neither intimidation nor promises can shift
them. Our own position is quite different. Apart from
munitions, men and excellent defences, we have adequate corn
and supplies, however long the campaign. Our financial
resources have just permitted the payment of a bounty, and
whether you choose to regard this as coming from Vespasian
or from Vitellius, you have in any case received it from a
Roman emperor. If, after all your victorious campaigns, all
the defeats inflicted on the enemy at Gelduba and at Vetera,
you are frightened to engage them, this is of course an
attitude unworthy of you. But you have a rampart, walls and
the skill to hang on until reinforcements and armies gather
from neighbouring provinces. Even if I am unpopular myself,
there are other commanders and tribunes or in the last
resort a centurion or a private. Choose one of these and
prevent the whole world learning the monstrous news that you
are proposing to offer your obsequious services to Civilis
and Classicus for an invasion of Italy. Tell me, if the
Germans and Gauls lead you to the walls of Rome, will you
attack the mother- city? The imagination shudders at such
wickedness. Shall Tutor the Treviran make you mount guard
for him? Shall a Batavian lead you into battle, and the
German hordes draw upon you for replacements? What will be
the final chapter in this career of infamy, when Roman
legions deploy against you? Turncoats fleeing from an army
of turncoats and traitors from an army of traitors, will you
hover between your new and old allegiance as an abomination
to the gods? I address this prayer and supplication to you,
Jupiter Best and Greatest, to whom for 820 years we have
paid the tribute of triumphs without number, and to you,
Quirinus, (4) father of the city of Rome: if it was not your will that this camp should be preserved whole and inviolate while I commanded it, I ask
that you will not suffer it to see pollution and outrage at the hands of Tutor and Classicus. Grant to the soldiers of Rome either innocence or a speedy repentance before it is too late .'

59. The speech was heard with emotions which varied between
hope, fear and shame. Vocula withdrew and thought of
committing suicide, but his freedmen and slaves foiled his
desire to anticipate a hideous end. What happened was that
Classicus sent Aemilius Longinus, a deserter belonging to
the First Legion, and quickly secured his death. As far as
the legionary commanders Herennius and Numisius were
concerned, confinement seemed sufficient. Then Classicus
dressed himself up in the uniform of a Roman general and
appeared at the camp. Yet, hardened scoundrel as he was, he
found that words failed him. All he could do was to read out
the terms of the oath. Those present swore to uphold the
Gallic Empire. He promoted Vocula's assassin to a high
position among the centurions, and rewarded the rest
according to their villainies.

Thereafter, Tutor and Classicus assumed separate
responsibilities. Tutor surrounded Cologne with a strong
force and compelled its inhabitants and all the troops on
the Rhine in Upper Germany to swear the same oath. At
Mogontiacum he executed the tribunes and expelled the camp
commandant for refusing to swear. Classicus for his part
picked out the most vicious of the troops who had
capitulated and told them to approach the beleaguered
garrison (5) and offer quarter if they were prepared to accept the situation. Otherwise there was no
hope for them, for they would have to suffer famine, sword
and death. The messengers reinforced their argument by
pointing out that they had set the example themselves.

60. The besieged were torn between heroism and degradation
by the conflicting claims of loyalty and hunger. While they
hesitated, all normal and emergency rations gave out. They
had by now consumed the mules, horses and other animals
which a desperate plight compels men to use as food, however
unclean and revolting. Finally they were reduced to tearing
up shrubs, roots and the blades of grass growing between the
stones — a striking lesson in the meaning of privation and
endurance. But at long last they spoiled their splendid
record by a dishonourable conclusion, sending envoys to
Civilis to plead for life — not that the request was
entertained until they had taken an oath of allegiance to
the Gallic confederacy. Then Civilis, after stipulating that
he should dispose of the camp as plunder, appointed
overseers to see that the money, sutlers and baggage were
left behind, and to marshal the departing garrison as it
marched out, destitute. About five miles from Vetera, the
Germans ambushed the unsuspecting column of men. The
toughest fighters fell in their tracks, and many others in
scattered flight, while the rest made good their retreat to
the camp. It is true that Civilis protested, and loudly
blamed the Germans for what he described as a criminal
breach of faith. But our sources do not make it clear
whether this was mere hypocrisy or whether Civilis was
really incapable of restraining his ferocious allies. After
plundering the camp, they tossed firebrands into it, and all
those who had survived the battle perished in the flames.

61. After his first military action against the Romans,
Civilis had sworn an oath, like the primitive savage he was,
to dye his hair red and let it grow until such time as he
had annihilated the legions. Now that the vow was fulfilled,
he shaved off his long beard. He was also alleged to have
handed some of the prisoners over to his small son to serve
as targets for the child's arrows and spears. However, he
did not swear allegiance to the Gallic confederacy or allow
any other Batavian to do so, relying as he did upon the
resources of the Germans and his conviction that, if it came
to a struggle for supremacy with the Gauls, the reputation
he had acquired would give him the lead. The legionary
commander Munius Lupercus was sent along with other presents
to Veleda, an unmarried woman who enjoyed wide influence
over the tribe of the Bructeri. The Germans traditionally
regard many of the female sex as prophetic, and indeed, by
an excess of superstition, as divine. This was a case in
point. Veleda's prestige stood high, for she had foretold
the German successes and the extermination of the legions.
But Lupercus was put to death before he reached her. Some
few of the centurions and tribunes — those born in Gaul —
were retained as hostages for the security of the alliance.
The winter quarters of the cohorts, cavalry regiments and
legions were dismantled and burnt, with the sole exception
of those at Mogontiacum and Vindonissa.

62. The Sixteenth Legion, together with the auxiliary units
which surrendered with it, received orders to move from
Novaesium to Trier, a time-limit being fixed for their
departure from the camp. Throughout this interval the men
occupied themselves with what each thought important. The
cowards spent the time in dread of a repetition of the
massacre at Vetera, the better sort in fear of their
conscience and the scandal. What sort of march was this to
be, they asked, and who would lead the way? Besides,
everything would be done at the pleasure of those to whom
they had surrendered absolute power of life and death.
Others again, quite unconcerned about the disgrace, were
busy stowing about them their money or favourite
possessions. Some few got their equipment ready, and armed
themselves as if they were going into battle. Amid such
thoughts and preparations, the hour of departure arrived. It
was even grimmer than they had anticipated. Inside the
rampart, their sorry state had been less obvious, and the
full extent of their ignominy was revealed only by the open
country and the broad light of day. The emperors' portraits (6) had been ripped off and the standards thus dishonoured, while on either side of them fluttered the
gaudy flags of the Gauls. Between marched the men in
silence, like a long funeral procession. Their leader was
the one-eyed Claudius Sanctus, ill-favoured in looks, and in
character even more abominable. (7) Infamy was made doubly infamous when the other legion (8) joined them from the now abandoned camp at Bonn. Besides, the word had gone round that the legions had capitulated.

In the still recent past the natives had shuddered at the
mere name of Rome. Now they all rushed out from their farms
and houses in one great mob gloating over the novel
spectacle. The triumph of the insolent populace proved too
much for the Picentian cavalry regiment. Deaf to the
promises or threats of Sanctus, they made off to
Mogontiacum. Happening to come across Vocula's murderer,
Longinus, they made him the target for their weapons and
thus took the first step upon the road to redemption. The
legions, however, held on their way and in due course
encamped before the walls of Trier.

63. Elated by success, Civilis and Classicus debated whether
they should not give their armies licence to plunder
Cologne. By inclination cruel and greedy for booty, they
were strongly attracted to the idea of sacking the city. But
this course was barred by strategic considerations and the
desirability of acquiring a name for clemency in the early
stages of establishing a new state. Civilis was further
influenced by the recollection of services rendered. At the
outbreak of hostilities his son had been arrested at
Cologne, but the local authorities had kept him in
honourable custody. The tribes east of the Rhine, however,
hated the city for its opulence and rapid growth, and only
contemplated making peace on one of two conditions: either
the settlement was to be opened up to all Germans without
discrimination or else it would have to be demolished and
the Ubii scattered in the process.

64. So the Tencteri, a tribe separated from Cologne by the Rhine, sent a deputation to lay their demands before the
assembled towns-folk. The most vigorous envoy acted as
spokesman and expressed himself somewhat as follows: 'We
thank the gods whom we all worship, and the greatest of
them, Mars (9), that you have returned to the fold and assumed once more the name of Germans. We congratulate you on the fact that you will at last be free in an association of free peoples. Until today, by barring the rivers, the earth and in a sense the very sky, the Romans prevented conversation
and contact between us, or else — and this is a greater
insult to born fighters — saw to it that we met disarmed and
practically defenceless under the gaoler's eye and on
payment of a price. (10) But in order to confirm our friendship and alliance for all time, we call
upon you to dismantle the defences that marked your slavery
— your city-walls. Even the creatures of the wild lose their
spirit in confinement. We also require you to put to death
all the Romans in your territory, for liberty is
incompatible with the notion of a master race. When they are
dead, let their property be shared among the community, so
that no one is in a position to hide anything or remain
uncommitted to our cause. We and you must have the right to
settle on either bank of the Rhine, as our fathers did in
the past. Nature has granted every man the privilege of
light and day: not less has she given brave warriors access
to every land. Go back to your fathers' practices and their
way of life, and tear yourselves from those pleasures which
the Romans find to be a more effective instrument of
domination than arms. As a people sound and uncorrupted,
forgetting your past enslavement, you will confront your
fellows as their equals, or as their leaders.'

65. The citizens of Cologne took their time to think the
matter over. Then, as submission to the terms was rendered
impossible by fear of future consequences, and outright
rejection no less so by their present plight, they replied
to this effect: 'As soon as we had a chance of freedom, we
seized it with greater eagerness than caution, for the sake
of union with you and the rest of the Germans, who are our
kinsfolk. As regards our city-walls, at a moment when the
armies of Rome are concentrating, safety demands that we
should strengthen rather than demolish them. All the aliens
from Italy or the provinces who previously lived among us
have become casualties of war, or have fled to their various
countries. The original settlers intermarried with us and
raised families: their home is here. We do not believe that
you are so ungenerous as to want us to kill our parents,
brothers and sisters and children. We are prepared to
abolish customs-dues and charges upon trade, and to allow
unsupervised crossing of the Rhine into Cologne, provided
that this takes place by day and no arms are carried, at
least until with the passage of time what is now a novel
concession develops into a tradition. We shall submit our
proposals to the arbitration of Civilis and Veleda, and they
shall negotiate and witness the agreement.' This reply
satisfied the Tencteri, and a deputation sent to Civilis and
Veleda with gifts secured a decision fully satisfactory to
Cologne. But any personal approach to Veleda or speech with
her was forbidden. This refusal to permit the envoys to see
her was intended to enhance the aura of veneration that
surrounded the prophetess. She remained immured in a high
tower, one of her relatives being deputed to transmit
questions and answers as if he were mediating between a god
and his worshippers.

66. The alliance with Cologne strengthened Civilis' hand, and he decided to invite the support of nearby communities
or to attack them if they offered opposition. Having taken
over the Sunuci and embodied their fighting men in cohorts,
he found further advance blocked by the resistance of
Claudius Labeo and his irregular body of Baetasii, Tungri
and Nervii. Labeo relied on his position astride a bridge (11) over the River Maas which he had seized in the nick of time. The battle fought in this confined space gave neither side the advantage until the Germans swam the river and took
Labeo in the rear. At the same moment, greatly daring or by
prior arrangement, Civilis rode up to the Tungrian lines and
exclaimed loudly: 'We have not declared war to allow the
Batavians and Treviri to lord it over their fellow-tribes.
We have no such pretensions. Let us be allies. I am coming
over to your side, whether you want me as leader or
follower.' This made a great impression on the ordinary
soldiers and they were in the act of sheathing their swords
when two of the Tungrian nobles, Campanus and Juvenalis,
offered him the surrender of the tribe as a whole. Labeo got
away before he could be rounded up. Civilis took the
Baetasii and Nervii into his service too and added them to
his own forces. He was now in a strong position, as the
communities were demoralized, or else felt tempted to take
his side of their own free will.

67. Meanwhile Julius Sabinus demolished any visible
reminders of the alliance with Rome, and claimed the title
'Caesar'. He then hastily led a large and ill-disciplined
mob of his countrymen against the Sequani, a neighbouring
state faithful to us. Nor did the Sequani decline the
challenge. Fortune favoured the better side and the Lingones
were routed. Sabinus' rashness in forcing an encounter was
equalled by the panic which made him abandon it. In order to
spread a rumour that he was dead, he set fire to the
farmhouse where he had taken refuge, and people thought that
he had committed suicide there. However, the ingenious
method of concealment by which he kept alive for another
nine years, the unflagging fidelity of his friends, and the
remarkable example set by his wife Epponina form a story
which I shall relate in its proper context. With the
Sequanian victory the war movement came to a halt. Gradually
the communities began to recover their senses and honour
their obligations and treaties. In this the Remi took the
lead by issuing invitations to a conference which should
decide whether they wanted independence or peace.

68. At Rome, however, pessimistic and exaggerated stories
about all these events gave Mucianus much anxiety. He was
afraid that, however eminent the commanders — and he had
already selected Annius Gallus and Petilius Cerialis — they
would be unequal to supreme command in the field. Nor could
the capital be left without supervision. Lastly, he feared
the ungovernable passions of Domitian, and, as I have said,
he had his suspicions of Antonius Primus and Arrius Varus.
The latter, as pretorian prefect, was still powerful, and
still had a military force under his orders. So Mucianus
removed him from his post, and made him controller of the
corn supply as a consolation-prize. To pacify Domitian, who
was well disposed towards Varus, he appointed one Arrecinus
Clemens, who was connected by marriage with Vespasian and
stood high in favour with Domitian, to command the
pretorians. The reasons Mucianus more than once gave for
this appointment were that Clemens' father had held it with
distinction in Gaius' reign, that a familiar name would be
popular with the troops, and that, while belonging to the
senatorial order, Clemens was quite competent to discharge
both functions. (12)

The most distinguished men at Rome were selected to assist
in the operations, and others not so distinguished used
their influence. Domitian and Mucianus prepared themselves
too, though their attitudes differed. Domitian had all the
impatience of ambitious youth, while Mucianus kept putting
the brake on the young prince's enthusiasm. His fear was
that if Domitian once got among the troops the impetuosity
natural to his years and the prompting of bad advisers would
not help him to act in the best interests of peace or war.
The expeditionary force consisted of the victorious Eighth,
Eleventh and Thirteenth Legions, the Twenty-First (which had
been one of those supporting Vitellius), and, of the
recently recruited legions, the Second. These were led
across the Alps by the Great St Bernard and Mont Genevre
passes, though part of the army took the Little St Bernard.
The Fourteenth Legion was summoned from Britain, and the
Sixth and First (13) from
Spain.

Thus the news of the army's approach conspired with their
own inclinations to induce a change of heart in the Gallic
peoples as they assembled for the conference at Reims. Here
they were greeted by the Treviran deputation led by the
warmongering Julius Valentinus. In a carefully rehearsed
speech, he gave vent to the usual criticisms of imperialism,
and to his abuse and hatred of Rome, for he was a skilled
agitator whose senseless rhetoric won him many admirers.

69. But one of the notables of the Remi, Julius Auspex, stressed
Rome's power and the advantages of peace. Even men who were
no fighters, he said, found it easy enough to declare war,
but in its conduct it was the men of action who bore the
brunt, and already the legions were poised to strike. Julius
impressed the most sensible of his hearers by his
considerate and loyal attitude, while he restrained the
younger ones by the appeal to danger and their fears. So
while applauding Valentinus' spirit, they followed the
advice of Auspex. It is clear that the Treviri and Lingones
were prejudiced in the eyes of the Gallic provinces by the
circumstance that they had sided with Verginius during the
revolt of Vindex. Many were disturbed by the mutual jealousy
of the provinces. Where would headquarters be set up? What
religious and moral sanctions could they appeal to? If all
turned out as they wished, which city would be chosen as
capital? While victory was still far away, dissension was
already upon them. They squabbled among themselves, some
boasting of their alliances, and others of their wealth and
manpower or the antiquity of their origin. This tiresome
future effectively reconciled them to the present. In a
letter addressed to them in the name of the Gallic
provinces, the Treviri were invited to refrain from arms,
since there was still the possibility of pardon and others
were ready to intercede for them if they regretted the past.
But resistance came from the same Valentinus, who stopped
the ears of his countrymen, though he devoted himself less
to the war effort than to a campaign of public speeches.

70. Hence the Treviri, Lingones and other rebellious communities did not prove equal to the highly dangerous
situation they had brought upon themselves. Even their
leaders failed to make a common plan. Civilis was scouring
remote parts of Belgica in an effort to capture Claudius
Labeo or dislodge him. Classicus spent most of his time in
idleness as if he had won his empire and were making the
most of the winnings. Even Tutor did not bestir himself to
man the Rhine in Upper Germany and close the Alpine passes.
In the meantime, moreover, the Twenty-First Legion invaded
the country from Vindonissa, and Sextilius Felix with some
auxiliary cohorts effected an entry by way of Raetia, to say
nothing of a composite cavalry regiment which had been
mobilized by Vitellius and had then gone over to Vespasian's
side. This latter unit was commanded by Julius Briganticus,
the son of Civilis' sister, who with the bitter animosity
often felt by near relatives cordially returned his uncle's
dislike. Tutor's Treviran contingent had been reinforced by
a recent levy of Vangiones, Caeracates and Triboci, and he
now stiffened it with veteran infantry and cavalry, enticing
or threatening some legionaries to join him. At first these
troops were successful in annihilating a cohort sent on
ahead by Sextilius Felix, but when in due course the Roman
army and its commanders approached, they returned to their
original allegiance by an act of honourable desertion,
followed by the Triboci, Vangiones and Caeracates. Tutor,
accompanied by the Treviri, avoided Mogontiacum and fell
back on Bingium. Here he thought he was in safety because he
had cut the bridge over the River Nahe. But some cohorts
under Sextilius hurried forward, and finding a ford, turned
the position and put Tutor to flight. This defeat broke the
morale of the Treviri, and the great mass of them threw down
their arms and scattered over the countryside. Some of their
chiefs, to give the impression that they were the first to
cease hostilities, fled to those communities which had not
renounced their alliance with Rome. The legions which, as I
have already mentioned, had been transferred from Novaesium
and Bonn to Trier took the oath to Vespasian of their own
volition. These events occurred in the absence of
Valentinus. When he was on the point of regaining Trier in a
frenzy, bent on reducing everything to ruin and confusion,
the legions retired to the friendly Mediomatrici. Valentinus
and Tutor hounded the Treviri back to arms, murdering the
legionary commanders Herennius and Numisius to lessen the
chances of pardon and strengthen the bond of crime.

71. This was the war situation when Petilius Cerialis
reached Mogontiacum. On his arrival there was a resurgence
of hope. Petilius was spoiling for a fight, and his strength
lay rather in his contempt for the enemy than in any
wariness he displayed in his dealings with them. His
impassioned language fired the troops' enthusiasm, and it
was clear that he would engage the enemy as soon as he could
make contact. He sent back to their homes the levies raised
throughout Gaul, and told them to announce that the legions
could cope with the defence of the empire: the allies might
return to their peace-time tasks in the conviction that a
war taken in hand by the Romans was as good as over. This
made the Gauls more obedient. Now that they had their men
back at home, they found that the taxes weighed less
heavily, the mere fact of being despised making them more
obsequious. Civilis and Classicus, on the other hand,
learning of Tutor's rout, the Treviran disaster and the
generally favourable prospects opening before the Romans,
were thrown into a fever of panic and haste. While
concentrating their own scattered forces they sent a stream
of messages to Valentinus urging him not to risk a decisive
engagement.

The same considerations induced Cerialis to act quickly.
Sending officers to the land of the Mediomatrici to lead the
legions back against the enemy by the direct route, which
was shorter, (14) and
gathering such troops as were available at Mogontiacum and
the force he had brought with him over the Alps, he marched
in three days to Rigodulum. (15) This village had been occupied by Valentinus with a large contingent of Treviri, since it was protected on one side by hills and on another by the
River Mosel. He had reinforced the position with trenches
and rock barricades. These defences could not frighten a
general of Rome. Petilius ordered his infantry to force a
passage, and sent his cavalry up the rising ground, (16) telling himself that any advantage such a ramshackle bunch of
enemies derived from its position was more than outweighed
by that which his own men could expect from their gallantry.
The climb held up things for a time, as the cavalry rode
past the opposing fire on the flank. (17) But when the Romans got to grips with them, the enemy were dislodged from their
perch and sent tumbling down the hillside like an avalanche.
Moreover a detachment of the cavalry rode round along the
lower contours (18) and captured the leading Belgians, including their commander Valentinus. (19)

72. On the next day Cerialis entered Trier. His men were
agog to destroy the city, and it is not hard to guess their
thoughts. This was the home of Classicus and of Tutor, the
criminals who had encircled and slaughtered Roman legions.
Cremona's fault had been nothing in comparison, yet it had
been torn from the bosom of Italy for delaying the victors
for a single night. Still standing intact upon the borders
of Germany was a place which gloated over armies despoiled
and murdered generals. By all means let the booty pass to
the exchequer. They, the troops, felt that the firing and
destruction of a rebellious town was compensation enough for
the sack of all their camps. But Cerialis was afraid he
might become notorious if he gave the troops a taste for
licence and brutality, and so he restrained their
bitterness. What is more, they obeyed, for the ending of the
civil war had improved their discipline in the face of
foreign enemies.

Their attention was then arrested by the pitiful appearance
of the legions brought from the land of the Mediomatrici.
The men stood about, miserably conscious of their offence,
their eyes fixed on the ground. No words of greeting were
exchanged between the armies as they met, nor would the
newcomers respond to consolation or encouragement, but hid
themselves in their tents and shunned the very daylight.
What had petrified them was not so much their predicament or
fear as the shame and scandal. Even the victors were
nonplussed. Without word or plea, the guilty pleaded for
pardon with tears and in silence. In the end Cerialis
reassured them by repeatedly blaming destiny for events
actually caused by the feud between the troops and their
leaders or the low cunning of the enemy. They should regard
this day as a fresh start in their military service and
sworn allegiance. Neither the emperor nor he, Cerialis,
wanted to dwell upon the past. Then his hearers were
admitted to the same camp, and orders were issued in company
details that in the event of an argument or dispute no one
should taunt a follow soldier with sedition or defeat.

73. Then Cerialis assembled the Treviri and Lingones, (20) and thus addressed them: 'I am no orator, and have always supported Rome's reputation for bravery by force of arms. But as you attach great importance to mere words, and judge of good and evil according to the utterances of agitators rather than in the light of their real nature, I have made up my mind to point out a few things. Now that the fighting is over, you may get more help from hearing these facts than we shall from stating them.

'The occupation of your land and that of the other Gauls by
Roman generals and emperors was not prompted by
self-interest, but happened at the invitation of your
forefathers, whose quarrels had exhausted them to the point
of collapse, while the Germans summoned to the rescue had
imposed their yoke on friend and foe alike. The nature of
our German campaigns is not entirely unknown — the many
battles against the Cimbri and Teutoni, (21) the strenuous exertions of our armies, and the final upshot. We planted ourselves on the Rhine not to protect Italy but to stop a second Ariovistus dominating Gaul. (22) Do you imagine that Civilis, the Batavians and the tribes east of the Rhine care any more for you than their ancestors did for your fathers and grandfathers? It is always the same motive that impels the Germans to invade the Gallic
provinces — their lust, greed and roving spirit. What they have really wanted is to abandon their marshes and deserts, and gain control of this rich soil and of yourselves. But "liberty" and other fine phrases serve as their pretexts. Indeed, no one has ever aimed at enslaving others and making himself their master without using this very same language.

74 'Throughout the whole of Gaul there were always despots and wars until you passed under our control. We ourselves, despite many provocations, imposed upon you by right of
conquest only such additional burdens as were necessary for
preserving peace. Stability between nations cannot be
maintained without armies, nor armies without pay, nor pay
without taxation. Everything else is shared equally between
us. You often command our legions in person, and in person
govern these and other provinces. There is no question of
segregation or exclusion. Again, those emperors who are well
spoken of benefit you as much as they do us, though you live
far away, whereas tyrants wreak their will upon such as are
nearest to them. You adopt an attitude of resignation
towards natural disasters like bad harvests or excessive
rainfall: in the same way you must put up with spending and
avarice on the part of your masters. There will be faults as
long as there are men. But the picture is not one of
uninterrupted gloom. From time to time there are intervals
of relief by way of compensation.

'You are surely not going to tell me that you expect a
milder regime when Tutor and Classicus are your rulers, or
that less taxation than now will be required to provide the
armies to defend you from the Germans and Britons? For if
the Romans are expelled — which Heaven forbid! — what else
will result but world-wide war in which each nation's hand
will be turned against its neighbour? The good luck and good
discipline of eight hundred years secured the erection of
this imperial fabric, whose destruction must involve its
destroyers in the same downfall. But yours will be the most
dangerous situation, for you have the riches and resources
which are the main causes of war. At present, victors and
vanquished enjoy peace and imperial citizenship on an equal
footing, and it is upon these blessings that you must lavish
your affection and respect. Learn from your experience of
the two alternatives not to choose insubordination and ruin
in preference to obedience and security.'

75. Cerialis' hearers had been fearing harsher treatment, and a speech of this sort reassured and encouraged them.
Trier was still being garrisoned by the victorious army when Civilis and Classicus sent Cerialis a missive whose substance was as follows: Vespasian, though the news was silent on the matter, was dead; the resistance of Rome and Italy had been sapped by civil conflict; and Mucianus and Domitian were merely helpless puppets. If Cerialis saw fit
to take over control in the Gallic provinces, Civilis and Classicus would for their part be content with the present boundaries of their two states. If, however, he were to prefer a fight, then they were ready for that too. To this Cerialis gave Civilis and Classicus no answer. The bearer of the offer and the letter itself he sent on to Domitian.

The enemy now advanced on Trier in several bodies and from
every direction. Many critics blamed Cerialis for allowing
them to concentrate when he might have dealt with the
separate contingents before they effected a junction. The
Roman army dug a ditch and built a rampart round their camp, (23) which they had hitherto occupied without fortifying it as prudence required.

76. Among the Germans opinions were divided. Civilis
suggested waiting for the tribes from across the Rhine, so
that their formidable reputation could complete the
annihilation of the shattered Roman forces. The Gauls were
merely booty which fell into the lap of the victors. And in
any case, the Belgians, who constituted the sole element of
strength among them, sided with the confederates openly or
at heart. Tutor, however, asserted that delay favoured Rome,
since her armies were concentrating from all quarters. One
legion (24) had been shipped across the Channel, others had been summoned from Spain or were arriving from Italy. Nor were these legions hastily raised troops, but veterans with
experience of war. As for the Germans to whom his colleague
looked, they did not know what orders or obedience meant,
but invariably acted as the fancy took them. Money and gifts
were the only means of bribing such people, and these were
available in greater quantity on the Roman side. No man was
so keen on fighting as not to prefer idleness to danger if
the profit were the same. If they closed with the enemy
immediately, Cerialis had nothing but the legions composed
of left-overs from the army of Germany, and these were in
any case committed to the Gallic alliance. Again, the very
circumstance that the Romans, much to their amazement, had
just routed Valentinus' scrappy force would serve to
accentuate their recklessness and that of their commander.
They would try another gamble, and this time fall into the
hands, not of an inexperienced youth more practised in words
and speeches than in fighting and the sword, but of Civilis
and Classicus. Seeing them would revive in their
imaginations a picture of fear, flight and famine, and the
realization that men who had surrendered so often as they
had done only survived on sufferance. Nor were the Treviri
or Lingones restrained by real affection. They would rise
once more when their fear left them.

77. This conflict of opinion was settled by Classicus'
support of Tutor's view, and the plan was immediately put
into effect. The centre was assigned to the Ubii and
Lingones. On the right front were the Batavian cohorts, on
the left the Bructeri and Tencteri. (25) One division moved up over the hills, a second by the road, and a third along the ground between the road and the River Mosel. They fell upon the Romans so unexpectedly that Cerialis was still in his
bedroom and in bed (he had not spent the night in camp) when
he got simultaneous news that the battle had begun and that
his men were being worsted. At first he reprimanded the
messengers for being panic-mongers. But soon the whole
extent of the catastrophe was revealed before his eyes. The
legionary camp had been penetrated, the cavalry had fled,
and the intervening bridge over the Mosel which links the
further suburbs with the city was in the hands of the enemy.
Cerialis was not the man to lose his wits in a tight corner.
He caught hold of the fugitives and forcibly drove them back
towards the bridge, showing great dash and exposing himself
in the front line, although unprotected by body-armour.
Thanks to this reckless but successful energy and to the
rapid concentration of his best fighters, he recovered the
bridge and made sure that it was strongly held by a picked
force. Then, returning to the camp, he found that the
companies of the legions captured at Novaesium and Bonn were
wandering aimlessly about while only a few soldiers were
gathered around the standards and the eagles were
practically cut off. Losing his temper, he exclaimed:

'This is no Flaccus or Vocula whom you are deserting. There is no question of treachery here. The only thing I have to
apologize for is that I thought you had forgotten your
alliance with Gaul but remembered your oath to Rome. I shall
be another Numisius or Herennius, so that all your
commanders will turn out to have died at the hands of their
own troops or of the enemy. Off with you! Go and tell
Vespasian — or Civilis and Classicus, they are nearer — that you have abandoned your commander on the field of battle.
Other legions will come, and they will not leave me
unavenged or you unpunished.'

78. This was the truth, and the same taunts were driven home
by the tribunes and prefects. The men formed up in their
cohorts and companies, there being no possibility of
deploying in the normal line of battle as the enemy were
everywhere and, since fighting was in progress inside the
camp rampart, the tents and baggage got in the way. At their
various command-posts, Tutor, Classicus and Civilis were
spurring their men to battle, urging the Gauls to fight for
liberty, the Batavians for glory and the Germans in the
interest of plunder. Indeed, everything went in the enemy's
favour until the Twenty-First Legion, having managed to mass
in a more open space than was available to the other
formations, first held the thrust and then threw their
opponents back. The working of providence may be detected in
the victors' sudden loss of nerve and in their retreat.
Their own story was that they had been dismayed by the sight
of the auxiliary cohorts which had been scattered at the
opening of the attack; for these had now gathered once more
on the top of the ridge, (26) giving the impression that they were a fresh reinforcing army. But the real obstacle to a rebel victory was the shocking way in which they scrambled
among themselves for loot, for this diverted their attention
from the Romans. Thus, though Cerialis had nearly ruined his
chances by carelessness, he restored them by determination
and exploited his success to the full, capturing the enemy
camp on the same day and destroying it.

79. The troops were not allowed to rest for long. A call for
help came from Cologne, whose inhabitants offered to hand
over Civilis' wife and sister and Classicus' daughter, who
had been left there as securities for the alliance.
Moreover, the townsfolk had in the meantime put to death the
Germans isolated from each other in their various billets.
This step justified the anxiety and urgency with which they
issued an appeal that help should reach them before the
enemy could rally to achieve his ambition, or satisfy his
vengeance. Civilis had moved in their direction too. He was
not without striking power, for his crack cohort was intact.
Comprising Chauci and Frisii, this unit was stationed at
Tolbiacum in the territory of Cologne. But bad news
deflected Civilis from his target. The cohort proved to have
been destroyed by a cunning ruse. The men of Cologne had
plied the Germans with lavish food and drink until they were
stupefied, then shut the doors upon them, set fire to the
building and burnt them to death. Moreover, Cerialis came to
the rescue at full speed. Yet a third threat confronted
Civilis — the possibility that the Fourteenth Legion with
the assistance of the British fleet might raid the Batavian
homeland in so far as it was exposed to attack from the
North Sea. But the legion's commander, Fabius Priscus,
marched his men by land against the Nervii and Tungri, who
capitulated to him. As for the fleet, the Cannenefates took
the initiative and themselves launched an attack upon it
which resulted in the sinking or capture of the majority of
the ships. These same Cannenefates also routed a mob of
Nervii who had volunteered to take the field in the Roman
interest. Again, Classicus successfully engaged the cavalry
sent ahead by Cerialis to Novaesium. These minor but
repeated losses tended to spoil the glad news of the recent
victory.

80. These events coincided with the execution of Vitellius' son at the command of Mucianus, whose excuse was that
disunity would persist unless he stamped out the last embers
of war. Nor did he permit Antonius Primus to be given a
staff appointment by Domitian, being worried by his
popularity with the troops and by the conceit of a man who
could not brook equals, let alone superiors. Antonius left
to join Vespasian, and though his reception did not answer his expectations, the emperor did not rebuff him either. Vespasian was torn between two conflicting forces. On the one hand he appreciated Antonius' services, for there was no denying that it was his generalship that had won the war. On the other hand there were Mucianus' letters. Besides, the rest of them denounced Antonius for his spite and swollen-headedness, not forgetting the earlier scandals of his career. He made matters worse himself because he provoked ill-will by arrogance and dwelt tediously upon his achievements. He abused Caecina as a prisoner who had capitulated unconditionally, and dismissed the others as men who had no fight in them. Thus little by little he lost ground at court, though outwardly the emperor remained friendly.